Caught

Time all but sprints in Alice Walter, it’s finally auction night. I don’t recognize those eyes, the honey brown making a piercing appearance more than usual. I look like a porcelain doll, perfect, a little too perfect, like a trophy, I look ready to become a slave, an article that can be bought and sold just as easily. The building has been hustling since the break of dawn, I was caught sneaking out of Penny’s room into mine, luckily for me, they needed me to look spotless today or I would’ve been sentenced to cruelty in the hands of the henchmen, another tale for a different time entirely. Today I won’t dwell on the past, I’ll look into the future, my future, our future. Today we get away from this torture den of a place, today I become a free woman. I strap the gun to my thigh with my bra straps, I made sure it was in place and tight enough not to fall off but loose enough to not cause suspicion. Being in Alice Walter has taught me a lot about how to survive, and I intend on taking that knowledge into the world. “Hurry now girls, our guests will be here any minute now” a voice rang through the speakers that are placed in every room and hallway in the building. And that’s my cue, I walk out of my room with a smile because today is going to go well, we can pull it off hopefully, or we’ll try to.

The dining hall looks different, the décor is stunning, they really put a lot of work into it, and rather than our dining tables and chairs, high-quality chairs were arranged neatly in the hall with what looked like hand fans with numbers on them were placed on said chairs, there’s a stand on the stage where a gavel sits, “admiring what they use their blood money for?” That’s Penny. “Penny it may be blood money but even you can’t deny that we’re going out beautifully,” I say then turn towards her, she looks stunning, her thick black hair cascades down her waist in beautiful thick waves, and her face looks beautiful, like she was created to be the very abhorrence of women and the spectacle of every man’s desire. “You look stunning hermanita “ she beats me to it, I smile “You look very beautiful too” she smiles at that, growing up here, these words are things we never hear, we are often condemned, for the way we look, never appreciated because they do not want to boost our confidence, they don’t want our esteem to grow, they want us broken and disgusted by ourselves but Penny and I, we are our motivation, it’s impossible to break Penny, she’s the strongest person I know, I rely on her too much for my good. “Are you ready Hermanita?” “I hope so,” I say, staring into her eyes, mine filled with uncertainty. “We’ll be fine Hermaita, go get your number, I’m 18,” she tells me, pointing to the tag on her dress. Her stunning green dress.

The auction began centuries ago, and 6 girls had been sold already, I glanced over to Penny, she was exhausted, she was slouching and her smile was gone whereas mine was still in place, she looked ready for a fight, she’d burn this place down if she could and knowing Penny’s violent tendencies she probably can. I haven’t been able to look at the people here, my eyesight is bad and the mistresses here will not have me wearing glasses, I’ll look more of a freak they said, it’ll go away they said, they have no idea how worse it has become, I used to take meds but seeing as it has deteriorated, I’d take a guess and say they aren’t effective. “Number 7, going for 1 million, can I get a million and a half, going for 1.5 million,” “5 million,” I hear a voice ring out in the crowd. “Going for 5 million, going once, going twice, sold,” Mistress Harper says as she hits the gavel they all cheer, and I almost cheer too, I mean why not? My feet are killing me, I’m tired. I can’t wait to get this over with, but I hope my buyer at least has a nice bed that I can retire to in case everything goes south. Even though our plan backfires, I pray Penny and I get sold to old men who have a heart disease and are too slow and have terrible amnesia so they forget they ever bought us and we run away to a far far away place and live our lives in peace away from all these drama, Amen.

I’ve been zoning in and out of this event, we had a break after number 10, Alisa was sold, we went in to touch our makeup, and rehydrate, and I missed Penny on our way out of the powder room. “Hey, Betty, do you have any idea where Penny’s at?” Betty was standing next to her, the last time I saw her I guess. “Betty,” I say again to be sure she heard me and tapped her shoulder “Ewww get your claws off of me you hobo” she shrieked, “I just need to know where Penny is,” I say. “Oh it’s you, I don’t know, last I saw her she wanted to pee, she should be out by now, I don’t know what the delay is for,” she says and looks at me, really looks at me, Betty has never spared me a second glance “hey Anne, I know about your little escape plan…” “I… umm… we….” “Oh save it, Anne, I’m serious, I’m not going to put you or anything, I want in on it too, look I’m sorry I’ve been mean to you and your sister, I just always wanted what you guys had and I’m also tired of being controlled and used. Will you help me?” She says, her eyes look genuine, Penny is going to kill me for this. “Do you have any weapons?” I ask, and she smiles. “Well well Anne, I must say your approach is rather direct, I have a dagger and a gun, pray tell me which one will be more effective,” she says, I am impressed. “Once you’ve been sold, your buyer will still be inside sorting out the final details of the transaction, while that is happening, I’ll need you to disarm your guards, kill if you have to, steal a car, and meet us outside the back gate.” I will explain. She looks at me in interest and smiles “will do, but wait, what happens if we don’t make it” she says desperation dripping from her face, “then we die trying.”

“Number 12-“Finally it’s my turn, “5 million, can I get a 5.5,” “10 million”

“Going for 10-“ “30 million,” someone in the crowd said. “Looks like that’s my buyer. “50 million” even I gasped at that. “Going once, going twice, sold,” the sound of the gavel said two things, that I’ll be able to escape this shithole finally, and second that I’ll have a new tormentor for the rest of my life, the former couldn’t be more different from the latter.

Two guards appeared out of nowhere, both put my height to shame, I’m like a dwarf compared to them, they’re both like heavily built mountains, armed mountains, I trailed behind them like a lost puppy, I glanced back at Penny one last time, my eyes conveying what my voice couldn’t, if we don’t make it out of here tonight, this is goodbye. She gave me a silent nod, and with that, I knew that she got my message and she felt the same way but this cannot be goodbye, it feels too right.

Finally, I was out front, I turned back and took in the building that has held me captive for 20 years, I looked up and saw the faces of those I cannot help, I can’t help them, they’re kids, somewhere taken from their families, the best thing I can do for them now is to survive, so they’d have a reason to survive as well. As the cold hair hit my face I was suddenly filled with courage and strength I never knew I had, my hand hovered around the strap with the gun, I opened the slit of my dress just a little and pulled out my gun, could hear my heartbeat in my eardrums, I can’t do this, I’m not Penny, I cannot pull it off. I raised my hand behind the guard by right, both oblivious to the danger behind them because they were both walking ahead of me. “I’ll take that darling” a voice rang behind me and the gun was suddenly gone and replaced with a beautiful man, the kind of beauty that burns in hell because it breeds sin, all sorts of sin. The kind that knocks out air from your lungs. While I was still staring at him, he looked over to his guards and gave them a little nod, suddenly my feet were above the ground and I was seeing the world from a different angle, I was placed on one guard's shoulder. Then the ground shifted and I was introduced to a different world of luxury, the interior of what I have to think is a limousine looked pretty expensive smelled it too, with leather chairs that faced each other, kind of like couches more than chairs, because once I was dropped in it I could feel the soft material beneath the leather, one word kept ringing in my head, wealth.